


Carità del Destino

by ImaLazyLizard



Series: Destino [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Everyone has daddy issues, F/M, Human Zane (Ninjago), M/M, Possible Romance, but i suck at writting romance so dont hold your breath, cause this partially takes place in an italian resturant, dont touch'a my spaget, friendships, i hope yall like italian, jay has no filter, kai hates jay, no beta we suffer like Cole's dancing career, they're still teens tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25420669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaLazyLizard/pseuds/ImaLazyLizard
Summary: Cole works in the family restaurant Carità del Destino, that's been going down hill for the past 8 years. He's desperate to prove to his father that he can take the responsibility of running the place, but his father insists of taking him out of the restaurant, and is practically forced to take a cooking class. Along the way he ends up meeting an interesting group of people (I'll give ya five guesses who) and life starts to expand past the boarders of the little restaurant.
Relationships: Cole & Zane (Ninjago), Kai & Nya (Ninjago), Nya/Jay Walker
Series: Destino [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852336
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

Once again lunch was flat…

It was 12, and Cole just gave the bill to the last customers, a grumpy old couple. He could hear them murmur about something as they left.

“Anyone left out there, dude?” 

“No…” Cole answered the bellow from the kitchen, as he entered the old kitchen. 

“Well, that sucks. Think You're pops, will let us take a break,” smiled Micheal, cleaning off the stove after the ‘lunch rush’.

“Probably. Uggg! My feet hurt! All I do is stand in the front waiting for no one! Back when I was a kid-”

“Yeah, yeah. The place was so full, that you couldn’t swing a fish without hitting someone, the line was so long that it blocked traffic, and everyone from here to Pompeii would rave about the food..” Shaking his head Micheal hung up his apron as he walked into the walk-in. Cole followed him huffing, 

“I did not say any of that.” Cole huffed as he leaned against the door frame studying the tiled floor as he continued, “Anyways, you know what I mean, this place worked before. I just want that back, y’know? I just want this place to be busy again”

Cole felt Micheal’s hand on his bicep, since he couldn’t reach his shoulder. “Hey Cole I get’cha. But if you focus too much on how the past worked, you won’t get the now to work.”

Micheal's watch beeped, “Welp, that's my lunch. Don't burn down the restaurant!” Micheal slipped out the back door, and Cole was left by himself.

Cole sighed as he went to the front and flipped the open sign to close. Then sat at a bench while scrolling through his phone. Since Cole’s been banned from the kitchen, and they couldn’t hire two cooks for the lunch hour, the restaurant always had to close when Michael went out for his lunch.

Left alone, Cole started twitching, he couldn’t handle stillness. It infected his life like the plague, he used to love it. After a full day of rushing around, talking, dealing with a heated kitchen, and equally heated customers, the simple quiet and stillness was his balm at the end of a stressful day. But now that’s all that ever happened since the restaurant slowed to a crawl, since they had to let go of old employees, since…

Tap, tap, tap.

Cole’s head shoots up as he hears the door. Standing up, he peaks over seeing an old couple, they both looked to be in their late 50’s.

Cole unlocked the door greeting the patrons “Hello, sorry we were temporarily closed, but I can seat you both, if you don’t mind waiting an extra 5 min?” 

The couple walked in after Cole, “We’re fine with the wait, we’re just glad this place is still open. It’s been years since we’ve last been here in Ninjago City, and our favorite restaurant!” The woman replayed as Cole led them to a booth, handing them menus.

“It must be nice to be back then, we are always glad to welcome back old customers to Carità del Destino.” Cole grinned warmly, “My name is Cole, and I’ll be your server for today. I’ll let you look at the menu for the moment.” Cole smiled as he walked away from the table and into the kitchen. Once he was out of they’re line of sight he whipped out his phone.

“Hello, you’ve reached me, but apparently you’re not important enough for me to respond, call enough and I might get back…….beep” Micheal’s voicemail chirped, as Cole panicky redialed.

“Yellow?”

“Micheal, when are you coming back, we have some customers!”

“I don’no, 30 min?” 

“Can you make it 10?”

“Bruh? Come on! Isn't that illegal, to cut an employee’s break short?”

“I’ll make sure you still get the other 20 minuets, I just need you back here to cook this old couple’s meal.” Cole checked out the kitchen window, looking at the old couple chatting calmly.  
“Have they even ordered yet?”

“No, but I--”

“Shush! I’ll be back after my lunch, either wait for me, or cook the meal yourself.”

“What!? You know I’m not-”

“It’s just two meals, everything has been prepped. Most of the meals is just boiling noodles and making a sauce.”

“But--” Cole heard a click as Micheal hung up. 

“You son of a-” Cole stopped himself, breathing to compose himself. “Why today?” He murmured as he grabbed a bowl of bread and headed back out to the dining room.

Putting on a friendly smile he walked back to the couple’s table, “here’s some bread, I like you two so it’s on the house” he winked as he set the complimentary bread on the table. The old woman gave a warm smile as he continued on, “Do the two of you know what you’d like to drink?”

“Do you serve tea?” 

“No, but we do have, water, coffee, sparkling water, soda, wine; cause it’s 4 o’clock somewhere.”

The old man gave an amused chuckle, “I’ll just have a water, thank you.”

“I’ll have the same, and a lemon if you have any.” The woman added, “oh, and we already know what we want to order.

Cole barely registers what she’s ordering as he starts panicking about how he’s supposed to get them this food. When she’s done, Cole picks up their menus and heads back to the kitchen.

Pacing in the kitchen Cole tries calling Micheal, but the phone doesn’t even ring before he goes to voicemail. “Damn him,” he mutters, as he looks over the meal the two ordered, a mushroom risotto, and a potato gnocchi. Not difficult meals, except if you've been prohibited with punishment of paying the insurance if Cole even looks at the stove.

Pondering on the problem, Cole got the two their drinks. As he headed back towards their table, he saw three new faces standing next to the table talking to the couple.

“-believe you came here before you came to see me” one of the strangers said to the couple, he was garbed in all black with a single highlight in his hair. The other two looked to be in a better mood, as they brought chairs over to the table. One was a tall well built man, and the other looked to be a junior with platinum hair.

“Do you need a bigger table?” Cole asked as the little table became crowded with elbows and hands as everyone tried to fit.

The big man chuckled, “probably, sorry for that. We finally found these two after wandering around for the last half hour.”

After relocating the trope of people, to a better table. Cole was finally able to get the newcomers orders.

“Do you have any pizza?” The blond kid asked

“Yes, we hav-”

“I’ll just take a pepperoni.”

“Um… We don't have pepperoni, but we do have margherita, funghi, romana, or-”

“I’ll just take the margarita..”

“How about we just get a large margherita and the three of us will share it.” the big man interjected.

The goth guy made no comet, but the kid agreed, so Cole wrote it down, flashes a smile, and escapes into the kitchen.

Cole gave up on trying to contact Micheal, he’s still got another 20 min before he’s scheduled to come back, and Micheal is not a punctual guy. Cole gulps as he thinks about how to make these dishes.

Knowing how to make pizza, he preps that first, taking some portioned dough he rolls it out. But it keeps tearing and isn’t even close to a circle, as he puts on the margarita and mozzarella, and tosses it into the oven. “Ok, now where does Micheal put the risotto?” He murmured as he looked for the par-cooked risotto that was prepped this morning.

Rummaging in the back, he found both the risotto and the gnocchi, and hurriedly threw them into pans and lit the flame. Finding the mushrooms Cole haphazardly chops them and throws them into the pan for the risotto.

“Aw, fu-- What sauce does the gnocchi get?” Cole tries to call Micheal, but nothing. Deciding that everything goes well with cream, Cole makes an easy cream sauce that he somehow does not burn, and lets the gnocchi sit as he checks the risotto which hasn’t burned either.

Great, everything's great. Except now he has to plate it…

Grabbing two plates Cole carefully scoops the two dishes, taking his time, going for an artistic pile.

“Hello, Cole? Can we get our water?” A voice asks from the dining table.

“Frick!” Cole whispers as he drops the spoon and rushes to get three cups of water. Entering the dining room, Cole apologized, “I’m so sorry sir. I’ve been um...helping the chef with your meals.” Placing the waters in front of them, the blond asks,

“Your chef needs help making three dishes?”

“Well, ummm… You see…” Cole starts explaining

“HOLY MOTHER OF DRAGONS!! COLE!!” Came Micheal's voice as the scent of smoke came through from the kitchen as Micheal threw the door open livid, as he held in his hand the pizza peel.

“If….If you can excuse me for a moment…” Cole excused himself from the table as he went into the kitchen.

Today sucks…..

////////////----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------////////////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do I put down here? IDK, this is my first fanfiction here, so idk love it or hate it. I'll try to post once a week. No promises though. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing caught on fire, but that didn’t stop Micheal chewing Cole out for everything else he did wrong. 

“Both burners on, you burned this excuse of a pizza, and were you actually going to serve this slop to our customers!” 

“Well I’m sorry, but you’re the one who wouldn’t come back and help!” Cole returned raising his voice

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t open the restaurant even though you know there wasn’t a cook, or anyone who could cook in the restaurant!” Michael bit back continuing to escalate the argument.

They were shouting at each other at this point, the customers in the dining room completely forgotten, as the two continued to argue.

“At least I care about this place! All you ever do is come in late, complain all day, and throw some food on a plate!”

Micheal stepped back after that comment, frustration plastered on his face as he turned to leave, “at least I have a life…”

Now alone Cole looks out to the dining room just in time to see the door close as the group left. “Great, what do I do now…” Cole muttered as he picked up the pans and cleaned, when his phone started ringing.

“Micheal told me what happen,” A tired and disappointed tone spoke,

“Dad, I can explain-”

“Don’t, I’m coming over.”

“Really! Great I’ll need the help--”

“And I want you out of the restaurant.” Lou quickly cut in, “You spend far too much time in that old building. Once I get there and you clean your mess, I want you to go home and to take the week off.”

Cole’s mouth fell open, “But, I have to help…”

“That’s your problem, ever since you graduated you’ve stuck yourself in that restaurant. When’s the last time you left, and done something that doesn’t involve the restaurant?” 

The silence spoke for itself. 

“You’re too involved and it’s dragging you and everyone else down. Take a week off, make some friends, join a club, hell go to a club! Just get out of that restaurant!” 

“At least I’m here! You're always gone, you're never here unless something happens!”

“We are not going to argue about this again, I’ll be there in 10 minuets.”  
Cole stared hard at the phone, tempted to toss it, but instead put his anger into attacking the pans he dirtied.

Cole just got started on the blackened mess on the cooled oven stone when his father walked in through the back door and looking into the oven. “Hmm, is the pizza the only thing you burned?”

Cole didn’t reply, didn’t look, didn’t move. He just kept scraping at the cheese and burned dough stuck in the oven.

“Was today busy?”

“......”

“Are these the meals you cooked” Cole heard his father comment, then the clink of a spoon followed by a cough, “You're getting better…”

“...”

The both worked in silence. Lou sighed as he put the plates by the sink, “Once you're down with the oven you can head home. I’ll take care of the rest.” 

He made no movement from the stove, “I'm staying for the dinner, then I’ll head home.”

“No, you need some time from the place. You’re on edge and nitpicking, it's not helping anyone.”

“I’m not on ed-”

“Yes you are. You started yelling at Micheal with customers in the dining room, you left the stove on when you left the kitchen, and that’s just what happened today! Your barley home, you come here at the crack of dawn, and do everything we pay our staff to do! And then you come home and do nothing but complain on how lazy the staff is!” Lou paused, breathing slowly, never raising his voice, “ you just need to be separated from the restaurant. You need to leave this place for a bit, and live outside this restaurant. It's not healthy to be so....involved.”

“I’m not a control freak, I just care for this place.”

“And I do to-”

“No you don’t, this is the first time in two months since you’ve been in the restaurant! And when you come over it's only because you have to, I’m the only one who cares what happens to this place!”

Lou shoulders dropped, “just...just go home Cole, I refuse to have this argument at the restaurant.” Lou turned away and threw away the remaining food, as he cleaned Cole’s mess.

Slamming the door behind him Cole walks down the alley to the sidewalk and his beat up car. He drives off to the apartment the three share. And storms in, past Stephanie, ignoring her questions as he slams the door to his room

////////////--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------////////////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I'd post this next week, buuuuut, I'm bored. And don't worry you should see at least some of the guys next chapter.  
> I'll try not to spoil you guys, but no promises. ;)
> 
> btw here's a quick sketch of Cole if ya wanna look: https://fishybehavior.tumblr.com/post/624316800533970944/cole-from-my-resturantcooking-au-just-a-sketch


	3. Chapter 3

The door to Cole’s room blasted open, 

“Holy oni horns, Steph! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack!” Cole stuttered dramatically clenching his heart. His step mother Stephanie stood in the doorway with a package in hand.

“Not really, but if it’ll help you get off your sulky butt.” Stephanie was smiling, not the sweet I made cookies smile, but a ‘you’ve been a lazy ass and now you're going to do all the chores’ kinda smile that Stephanie has perfected.

“So, um… Why did you burst into my room like the overlord himself invaded?”

“Cause you’ve been sulking in your room for 2 days.”

“I’m not sulking”

“Brooding then,”

“No”

“Mopy?”

“Do I look like a dwarf to you? ”

“Well you're as grumpy as one.”

“Steeephh.”

She grinned as she held up the packet “You need to socialize and since you don’t have the initiative to do so, I found something for you.”

Cole walked up and grabbed the packet, on the front is a flyer, “Dareth’s cooking class, learn to cook and bake from experienced home cooks and professionals.”

“You signed me up for a cooking class?” Cole gasped as he opened the package to see an apron with a screen printing of…. Grumpy Cat.

“It's official, you hate me” Cole said as he threw the apron on the floor and jumped back onto his beanbag.

“Now come on, it’ll kill two birds with one stone; you can make some friends who are as passionate about food as you are, and you’ll learn how to cook.”

“No.” He responded while slipping on his headphones.

Stephanie pulled off an ear piece, the heavy rock audible. “Come on, I’m not allowing you to sit here and mope.”

“Well good luck with that, I pay rent for this room and my phone, so I’m gonna sit here in my room and on my phone. You don’t have power here in my domain.” He dropped the earpiece back on and started ignoring her.

“Well fine then,” Stephanie chirped as she walked out.

Cole was playing on his phone Dragon Ninja, he was finally on the big boss, when suddenly. ‘NO WIFI’

“Wait!” The game froze trying to reload, but he had no more data for another week when the month turns. “Nooo.. Steeeph, why must you be so cruel!” Cole moaned as Stephanie stood at the doorway, with her smug triumphant smile. “You can get the wifi password after the cooking class ends in two weeks.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know I could’ve driven myself.” Cole moped staring out the window

“Sure, and you would most definitely go to the class everyday.”

“What? I would!”

“Yeah and I’m a natural blond” Stephanie stated as she pulled driving to a local highschool, that was the venue for the cooking class.

“You didn’t tell me it was at Eastview!” Cole said, slouching so no one would see him.

“Relax, didn’t you graduate from Clearwater?”

“Yeah, but the Eastview ninja’s where our school’s rivals. The last thing I need is a bunch of snotty sophmores biting at my ankles. We should just leave.” 

Stephanie reached over and opened the door and unbuckled Cole’s seat belt. “Nice try big guy, now get out. I’ll come pick you up in 2 hours.” They stared at one another, till Cole blinked, and spilled out the door. Clutching the pamphlet and package with him.

Following the signs that said DARETH’S COOKING CLASS, Cole eventually found the culinary classrooms which were hosting the class. Walking in he sees that he’s probably one of the first here as there’s only 6 others here, 3 look to be in highschool, 1 is at least 50 and the last two seem to be a young couple.

Inspecting the room, Cole sees the appliances. They aren't new, but after being surrounded with 30 year old equipment his whole life anything looked advanced.

“Hello, are you here for the class?”

Cole jumped, as an unfamiliar kid snuck up behind him, “Jeez kid! Are you a ninja or something?” Cole snapped at the kid, who was almost eye level with him, with shockingly white hair.

“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. I just didn’t know if you are a student here for extra credit or for the class.” He asked with a small friendly smile.

“I’m here for the class, though I’m not a student here. I graduated last year.” 

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you where an alumni,”

“Well no. I graduated from somewhere else. I just got blackmailed to take the class.” Cole answered mumbling the last bit.

“Oh. Well then, I’m Zane. I’m a student here, and I’ll be helping out with the class.” Zane stated as he stuck out his hand.

“Cole,” he answered as he took his hand. “So you said you get extra credit or something for the class?”

“Yes, myself and my fellow assistant...Um,” Zane looked back at a kid with uncontrolled hair, “Kyle?”

“You don’t know your friend's name?”

“We aren't friends per-say-”

“Hey blondie, why you looking at me?” ‘Kyle’ shouted as he joined them, addressing Cole, “are you here for the extra credit too?”

“No, ‘Kyle’ I’m here for the class.” Cole deadpanned

“Kyle? Did you forget my name again Zane?” He looked tired and annoyed, “We’ve been doing this class for 2 days… Uggg, ignore Mr. Forgets Only My Name. I’m Kai.” He said as he offered his hand as well as glaring daggers at Zane. Who looked completely unabashed about forgetting his name.

“HELLO EASTVIEW COOKING CLASS!” Came a bellow from the doorway. Looking for where the sound came from, surprising Cole when he realized that a shrimpy freshman walked in. Zane went to greet him, and Kai flipped him off.

“Who’s the freshman?” Cole murmured to Kai.

Kai chuckled, “Freshman? I wish, the brats a junior, and I think is a friend, or at least an acquaintance of Zane’s” Kia murmured as the two seem to be having a friendly conversation. 

Shortly after the shrimp arrived, about 7 other people rolled in for the class. Kai and Zane put everyone in pairs of two, based on how many classes they’ve attended. Cole got paired with the shrimpy junior in the back of the class.

“Hey, my dude. How are you. Are you a student too?”

“Why does everyone think I’m a student?” Cole asked, annoyed.

“‘Cause ya look as tired as a senior, my man.” The shrimp grinned.

“Name’s Jay.”

“Cole,” He said, grabbing the equipment the teacher was telling them to get.

“So why are you here? Can’t believe you came back to high school just after escaping”

“I didn’t graduate from here, there’s more than one school in Ninjago city.”

“Which school then, Clearwater? Bear Valley? Are they as good as our school? Are they worse?”

“That's none of your business,” Cole retorted, purposefully not making eye contact. As he grabbed the knife the teacher directed them to grab.

“Are you talking his ear off shortly?” Kai's voice came from the front of the class.

“Yes, he was.” Cole said trying to slice the apple they were using for practice, but his slices were very uneven. 

“You’re holding the knife wrong.” 

Cole jerked as Zane surprised him again, “Goodness, Zane! You gotta start wearing a bell!”

Zane gave an apologetic smile, as he grabbed the knife from Cole, “ Sorry again. But you are holding the knife wrong, you have a higher chance of slicing yourself if you hold it wrong. Pinch right here at the bottom of the blade then just let your fingers curl round the handle.” Zane stated as he demonstrated how to hold the knife. “If you hold it like this, you’ll have much more control of the knife and will be less likely to cut yourself. Now with your other hand...,” Zane droned on, as Cole tried to follow as Zane started listing the benefits of different ways of holding different knives.

“Zane, I think he’s lost,” Jay said, trying not to laugh at Cole’s face of pure confusion. Coming back to the present Zane gave an awkward smile.

“Whoops, sorry. Lets just go back to holding this knife.” And Zane finally helped Cole hold the knife right.

After Zane walked off to help someone else, Cole spent the rest of the class trying not to snap at Jay to shut up, as he talked almost non-stop about anything and everything.

“Hello? Earth to Cole! Earth to Cole!”

“What..” Cole responded, finishing the sandwich they were supposed to make.

“The class is over.” Jay stated, “we’re supposed to clean up.” 

Cole blinked in surprise, as he looked around and saw everyone packing up. Picking up their dishes the two headed to the sink. Suddenly Kai walked right next to them with his arms loaded with dishes.

“Hey Jay, my man thanks for agreeing to do my dishes.” Kai grinned as he dumped the dishes on Jay's side of the sink. 

“Kai! I did not agree to this!” 

“Kyle, you know you shouldn’t do that.” came Zane’s disappointed tone.

Kai raised his hands and chuckled, “Come on guys. I’m joking, can't you take a joke. I’ll clean my dishes.” Kai said, but as soon as he turned around, Cole saw him frown. Jay finished and left, as well as Zane. It was just Cole finishing his dishes, and Kai trying to tackle the pile that he tried to make Jay clean.

“I know you weren’t joking.” Cole deadpanned as he scrubbed at a pot, “what do you have against the shrimp?”

“Nothing.” Kai snapped.

“Fine then,” Cole said as he finished and grabbed his bag. “See you tomorrow then.” 

Walking out to the front, he saw Zane and Jay making sure that everyone had a ride since some of the kids that came in couldn’t drive yet. Looking at the cars lined up next to the building, he saw Stephanie in her van. She looked at him, and he tried to signal to her to drive to the end of the street. Stephanie either didn’t understand or didn’t care.

“Come on Cole! I wanna hear about your first day!” Stephanie yelled out her window at the embarrassed young man. 

“Steeeph!” Cole groaned as he quickly got in the van hoping no one cared, “I could’ve just gotten an uber.”

“Yeah, back to the restaurant. Your dad asked me to keep you away from the Destino, so I’m not giving you the opportunity to bail. Besides it’s been months since we hung out just the two of us, come on we could cook dinner!”

“Do you want me to burn the kitchen? We just worked on our knife skills.” Cole groaned as he looked out the window as they pulled out of the school drop-off. 

“Hey you can chop the veggies. Brighten up, maybe we can play uno after dinner. And you can fruitlessly try and break my winning streak.” Stephanie said elbowing the brooding teen.

Cole perked up returning the sentiment, “Ok, you're on. But there’s no way you can win 35 times in a row!”

////////////--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------////////////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we meet the boys! Even tho they don't all like each other right now...  
> I keep on saying that I'm not going post again right away, buuuut I keep on writing. So update soon?


	4. Chapter 4/Update

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: I know this chapter is short, but I wanted to post one last thing before I actually stop mass posting this story, and take my time with it and stockpile some chapters. I will be posting the newest chapter on Monday, and probably Thursday (the second date is not decided yet) I hope you guys have been enjoying, and we will be back with an actual schedule on Monday!! Yay!!

“No! How do you even do that! You have to be cheating!” Cole exclaimed as Stephanie won her 45 game in a row.

“I’m not cheating, just playing the game,” Steph replied with an evil gleam in her eye, “One more game?”

“No! No more, just let me die with what little dignity I have left.” Cole uttered as he laid down on the floor next to the coffee table they were playing on.

“You’re too dramatic.”

“And you're merciless.”

“Touche. Loser cleans the game.” Stephanie told Cole as she got up to grab something from the kitchen. 

Cole groaned as he pulled himself off the floor, as the front door opened as his father walked in looking tired.

“Hey, glad to see you out of your room,” Lou uttered as he sat on the couch, removing his shoes.

“No choice, either this or Steph was gonna hang me by my toenails.”

“Did you end up getting out today?” Lou asked, not expecting Cole’s answer.

“Yeah, Steph again. Basically threatened me to go to a cooking class she signed me up for.” Cole mumbled as he put the cards in the junk drawer, and grabbed a mug of coffee for himself and his father, sitting on the couch next to him.

“So how’s the Destino?”

“Good, yet slow.”

“Do you need any help?”

“For the fifth time, no. I don’t care if we suddenly get swamped, you’re taking this week off.” 

A beat of silence then, “How was the cooking class?”

Grumbling at the topic change, “Fine, boring though. All we did was work on our knife skills, we only made sandwiches, not really cooking in my opinion.”

“Well better to be bored and safe, than entertained yet missing a finger.” Lou countered, “But why sandwiches?”

“We cut everything we needed for them, from the bread to the meat.”

Lou sipped at his coffee,“Hmmm, sounds like good practice. Have you met anyone?”

“Yeah...”

“Thinking about being friends?”

Cole took his own sip, delaying, “I don’t know if I should, most of the kids there are from Eastview.”

“So? That was last year.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Did any of them recognize you?”

“Weeelll. No…”

“Then put it behind you, and focus on making friends. You can’t let one mistake hold you back from finding friends.” Lou punctuated his thought with a sip of coffee and turned on the TV, ending the topic. “Do you wanna watch Dr. Phil?”

“Is it another re-run?” Stephanie chirped as she walked in with her crochet hook and orange yarn, sitting on the other side of Cole.

And that's where the three sat until they drifted off.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know, now that you called him Kyle, I think Kai hates both of us.” Jay stated as he and Zane walked down to a late robotics meeting.

“He doesn’t hate both of us. You, yes. But I think he’s just annoyed at me.”

“Why’d you call him Kyle anyways, you're not that bad with names.”

“I’ve seen how he’s treated you, thought he should at least get some of that passive aggressive behavior back.”

“He wasn’t that bad today.” Jay observed.

“Only because I threatened Kai, I told him I’d get him kicked out of the class if he was overly aggressive towards you during the class.” Zane smirked as the two arrived at the robotics classroom.

“Zane you’re a lifesaver!”

“I’m not a lifesaver, I’ve just bought you some time of lessened aggression. Hopefully you can maximize the time and get on Kai’s good side. You have less than two weeks.” Zane stated as he walked in.

“Don’t remind me…” Jay groaned as he followed the senior into the robotics class.

////////////--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------////////////


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back my dudes! I hope y'all are ready, because I am! Please enjoy the show! :)

“Day number two! Are you ready?” Stephanie was excited, either from the three cups of coffee or she was just trying to get Cole hyped.

Cole raised his eyebrow, “Are you ok? It’s just cooking class,” he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door.

Stephanie dropped some of the energy, “Yes, I know. But I’m celebrating the small victories, and you should too.”

“Ok. Here, I’ll celebrate if I go through the class without cutting my hand open. It’d be a new record, two days in a row using a knife without bleeding.” Cole emphasized the sarcasm with jazz hands.

“Not the vibe I was looking for, but it's a vibe.”

Cole almost tripped as he got out of the van, “Vibe? Are you going on Tik Toc again? Learning the lingo of my generation?”

“Just get your butt in there. I’m picking you up again, so don’t get an Uber!” Cole closed the door and waved as she drove off.

“Was that your mother?”

“Holy frickin wallipers!” Cole whirled around to see Zane’s apologetic smile. “I’m getting you a bell, Zane!” 

“Sorry once again. I was just wondering if she was your mother, since she picked you up yesterday.”

“Um, kinda. She’s, my step-mom.”

“Oh, um. Cool.” Zane said awkwardly, not sure what to say next. They fell into an uncomfortable silence, waiting for the other to say something.

“So, uh…. Cooking class?” Cole awkwardly broke the silence, and encouraged Zane to walk with him to the classroom.

“Uh, yeah, of course. It should be more exciting today, you’ll actually be cooking.”

“You have fire extinguishers right?” Cole muttered 

“Of course, it's regulation. But I doubt anyone will set fire to anything today. We’re just cooking simple rice dishes and omelets.” 

“Uh, just a warning. I’m not even allowed to look at the stove let alone use it, so you might wanna make sure it’s on hand.” Cole said, rubbing his neck with embarrassment.

“I’m sure you are not that bad.”

“I’ve burned water.”

Zane paused for a bit, “I’m sorry, that’s not possible. You can’t burn water.”

Cole huffed, “Say that to the smell in the kitchen. I was boiling some noodles, and when I came back it was smoking, and it smelled burnt.”

“You just left a pot of boiling water?” Zane stared at him

Cole looked away, “Well, I had to go do something, but I left a wooden spoon on top so it wouldn’t overboil.” 

Zane stopped walking, the look on his face was of failed composure. One could see he was trying his hardest not to just go “BOI!”. Cole turned around to see his conflicted face.

“What?”

“A wooden spoon doesn’t stop overboiling, it just delays it. You must have overboiled the water and when the water evaporated on your burner it steamed, and the extra starch probably made it smell bad.”

“Huh, you learn something new everyday. You know quite a bit, where did you learn all of this?” Cole asked as he held the door open for him.

“Well, you see-- KAI!” Zane interrupted as they saw Kai holding Jay’s bag over his head with the poor boy trying to get it back.

“So you do know my name.” Kai said nonchalantly, continuing to tease Jay.

“Zane help me! Use your tallness!” Jay barked, trying to get his bag by jumping up for it, but Kai always had it out of reach.

Kai scoffed, “Oh, come on. Shorty here was bragging about how he found the perfect thing for Nya. I asked to see it, he said no. So I decided to look for myself.” He then dropped the bag into Jays arms, after looking at Zane's face.

“You better not tell Nya! It’s a surprise!” Jay huffed as he backed up behind Zane, out of Kai’s reach.

“I don’t care. If she doesn’t ask, I won’t tell.” And he stalked off to the other side of the room, grabbing equipment that the class would use that day.

Cole shook his head in annoyance as he went to the table he was at yesterday. Going to get the supplies listed on the board.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay turned to Zane pouting,“where were you Zane, you said you’d be right behind me!”

“Sorry, I was talking to Cole. Where you antagonize him?”

“No, I was trying to tell him how I care for Nya by getting her an awsome gift….” His shoulders dropped, “But I didn’t want to show him, I thought he’d ruin the surprise…”

Sighing, Zane ruffled Jay's hair, “What am I going to do with you?”

“Keep me around?”

“I’ll think about,” he said as he walked off.

“Hey!”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kai appeared next to Cole with a fire extinguisher in his hands. “So Zane was telling me I should keep a fire extinguisher trained on you,”

“Hey leave us be.” Jay butted in, puffing his chest.

“Relax squirt,” Kai lifted his hands, “First of all' I’m actually not trying to be antagonizing, just trying to break the ice, and two wasn't talking to you." He shifted his attention to Cole, "You seem like a chill dude.” Kai said leaning against the table. “I remember introducing myself, but I don't remember your name?”

“Cole.” he replied, opening the carton of eggs for the omelet they were making.

“Well, Cole. Did you graduate from here? I feel like I know you from somewhere?”

“I went to another school, it doesn't really matter.” He cracked the eggs into a bowl,” I’m here basically against my will, ‘cause I can’t cook for shi-”

“-take mushrooms.” Jay blurted. 

Cole and Kai turned to him, giving him a long confused stare.

“Uh…Sorry, just thought, it would be funny…” He quietly finished.

“Anyways…” Cole continued, “What are you doing here. You don’t really strike me as someone who cooks.”

“Ah, don’t judge a book by it’s cover! I grew up cooking with my aunt, I can cook better than anyone in this class.” He said while picking up the toppled spices Cole knocked over spilling the herb all over the table.

“Oops, sorry 'bout that. Anyways how does the ex-dojo teacher end up teaching a cooking class?” Cole said, grabbing a fork to whisk his eggs.

"You know Dareth?"

"I was part of his judo class about three or four years ago, till he got evicted from the building."

“Well I don't know the story, All I know is that he is a friend of my calculus teacher, Mr. Doug. And he got Mr. Doug to pull a few strings so he could use the school as a venue for his cooking class.” Kai turned his as someone at the next table looked like they needed help. “Excuse me,” he said walking away.

Jay, who was ahead of Cole, as he just finished prepping the veggies, looked into their bowl, “um, I don't think we need eggshells in our omelet,” Jay pointed out the egg shells that were littered in the bowl.

Cole threw hi hands up,“Uhg, it's not my fault the eggs keep on falling apart when I crack them.”

“How hard do you crack them?”

“I’m super gentle, here I’ll show you.” Cole demonstrated how he gently cracks the eggs multiple times until there are some cracks, then he pulls it open, still getting some shell fragments in the bowl. “Arrg! I quit.” Cole spat as he sat in his stool.

“You’re cracking it too much. Sorry, again,” Zane responded as he startled Cole.

“How do you do that? And why am I the only one you startle?” Cole asked.

Jay piped in, “you get used to it after a while. Though it’s still really funny, especially when he ends up surprising Mr. Borg, and he goes rolling down the hall!” Jay chucked till he saw Zane’s terse look.

“Let's get back on topic." Zane shifted his focus from Jay, "Cole, you're cracking the egg too much." Zane grabbed an egg to demonstrate as he explained, "try giving it one hard tap, so that there will just be one major crack. When you have a lot of small cracks you are more likely to get eggshells in whatever your making.” 

“Are you sure about that? Just seems like a great way to get eggs all over the table.”

Zane smiled warmly, “I swear it’s fine, just don’t crack it too hard.’

Cole shrugged as he grabbed an egg and gave it a hard crack, and it did. All over the table… Jay put a hand over his mouth to stifle his giggles, as Cole cursed under his breath, desperately trying to make sure the runny mess didn’t fall off the table and make a bigger mess. Looking up at Zane, he could see him trying to keep his composure as he grabbed a towel to help clean. “I blame you.” Cole stated as he accepted the towel from the now laughing aid. Jay was full on laughing as well. Face turning red, Cole picked up the rest of the egg and thew it into the trash.

“Maybe I should crack the eggs,” Jay said still chucking under his breath. Cole nodded as he went to go clean the egg off of his hands. Zane followed him, “Sorry about laughing. I just didn’t expect you to just smash the egg like that.”

“Well, you told me to give it a hard crack.” Cole pouted as he tried desperately to get the slimy feeling off his hands.

“Fine, I guess I’ll take this one, but the next one’s on you, ok?” Zane grinned.

Cole dramaticly sighed and rolled his eyes, “You people, making sure I feel the brunt of my consequences.” 

Zane went back to helping other students, and once Cole finally clean everything up, went back to the table he shared with Jay. He was whipping the new bowl of eggs, “So Mr. Hulk you ready to help, and not smash everything?”

Cole rolled his eyes, “How am I not surprised, of course you’re a nerd.”

“Geek, I’m a geek. Get it right.” Jay stated as he poured the eggs into the pan.

“Ok, ok. Cool down, let's just focus on not burning the eggs…..” Cole and Jay both watched at the eggs as they simmered. “.....Star Wars or Star Trek?” Cole asked

“If we’re talking about original movies for both franchises, Star Wars. If we’re talking about the crap they’re making now Star Trek. Prequels or sequels?” Jay threw back as he poked at the eggs making sure they didn’t burn.

“I guess the prequels, I didn’t mind the sequels till the third movie, that twist came from nowhere.”

Jay threw down the wooden spoon, “I know right?!? Like I know they needed something for the climax, but there was no build up. Not only that,” Jay turned to Cole, this was obviously a sore spot for the kid, “there was no permanence to anything that happened in the movie, until the end. Oh my lord that ending! What a slap to the face! Every time a character died, or equivalent to died they took it back took it back half an hour later. But the ending, they did the same thing but worse! I was honestly expecting the two to go back and forth for half an hour, an honestly I would have preferred it! Would have been hilarious, since the rest of the movie was a joke.” Jay was seething, one could practically see the steam coming off of him.

“Who would you have chosen to die?” Cole asked, totally engrossed in the conversation.

“I would have let-”

“Hey you little shet, are you trying to burn down the room!” Kai abruptly jumped onto the scene to put out the wooden spoon, which caught on the stove’s flame. He grabbed the spoon and threw it into the sink then turned on the water. The fire made a “hisss,” as it died.

“How in the everloving fuk, did you not notice the literal fire you started!” Kai barked at Jay, the poor boy looked horrified. Frozen as Kai continued to chew him out.

“Kai, wait-” Cole tried to intervene.

“Oh don’t think you’re getting off easy either! How irresponsible and blind the two of you must be to let an active and uncontrolled flame start and neither of you noticed!” Kai waited for them to respond.

Cole broke the silence, “well… You see, we were talking about the newest star wars film, and-”

“Let me guess, Jay got fired up about it again?" Zane said as he suddenly appeared at Cole’s side causing him to jump again. “Jay always loses focus when you get him started about the newest film. Which is not an excuse,” Zane continued in as Kai opened his mouth, “but an explanation. It’s still irresponsible to set your utensils on fire.” Zane glared at the two, “the last thing we need is to be responsible for setting the school on fire.”

“We should just get them kicked out of the class.” Kai snorted looking at Zane.

“No, I- mmff-!” Cole quickly put his hand over Jay’s mouth, preventing him from arguing with Kai and making the situation worse.

“Well how about this instead,” Zane addressed Kai, “they pack up early and clean the classroom as punishment; they only started a small fire which was taken care of rather efficiently.” Zane pointed out.

Kai looked at Cole and Jay, you could see him weighing out the options.“Fine, since I don’t think Dareth would kick them out anyway. We’ll go with your idea, but someone has to watch them from now on.”

“That sounds reasonable, may I suggest we trade watching every other day?” Zane proposed.

“Better than nothing. You two! Pack up your stuff and start cleaning up your mess.” Kai snapped as he stalked away.

“What’s his problem?” Jay fussed. 

Cole looked at him like he grew another head, “his ‘problem’ is that we started a fire and didn’t notice. An uncontrolled flame is dangerous in a kitchen and someone could’ve gotten hurt if Kai didn’t jump in.”

“You’re taking his side?” Jay said dumbfounded.

“Listen I get that you two don’t like each other. But in this situation Kai is right. We made a mistake, and we will apologize.” Cole punctuated as he started cleaning their station. Jay was silent for a few beats, either angry at Cole or Kai, he could not tell, “Fine." Jay cut in as he started cleaning as well.

Cole sighed, and decided to try and lighten the mood, "hey I bet I can wash dishes faster than you!”

Jay perked up at the challenge,“As if, you’re on!’

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kai was in the back of the room, as he watched the two clean up their station. And when the class ended he didn’t move. Zane eventually walked over to Kai and sat in the stool next to his.

“How are the two of you friends?”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t know either of you well, but I’ve visited the robotics club enough to get a feel for the both of you." Kai folded his arms as he continued, "you two are so different, he’s loud, constantly distracted, and he doesn’t stay dedicated to any idea. He’s absolute chaos, and yet you’re friends with him.” He turned to look at Zane, he could see only confusion on him.

Zane leaned back onto the table behind his stool, taking a moment before he responded. “Sure when you describe him like that, he sounds nothing more than a petulant child. But that’s only boiling him down to his worst elements, Jay while being all of that is incredibly kind, smart, quick-witted, and is dedicated to those he cares for. He’s a great person to have around whenever you’re stuck on a problem, or just need to talk to someone who cares. I would be a worse person if I never meet Jay.”

The two sat there quietly, watching the two deal with the mountain of dishes. Jay seemed to be talking about something making Cole chuckle as he bopped him on the back of the head. The two sat there as they watched the two work together till they finished and left, they looked to be teasing each other as they walked out the door.  
Zane stood up and stretched, “Well, we should probably leave ourselves.” He looked back at Kai, who appeared to still be deep in thought. Deciding not disturb him, he left the keys to the door next to him and walked out himself, leaving Kai alone.

////////////--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------////////////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of dipping my toes into the possible romance tag I put on the story. 
> 
> We will be back this Thursday! ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long chapter on Monday, I didn't realize how big it got. But don't worry, this one is a lot shorter. And I'm still going to post on Thursday too, I just need post today and tomorrow to push forward through this funk I'm going through.
> 
> Please enjoy! :)

Cole was filled with regret. How could he make such a smoothbrained move. Of course it would end up like this, how did he not see it? He must’ve been too tired after him and Jay cleaned the entire class room. Another ping reminding him of his mistake. Cole opened his phone to look his mistake in the face again.

It was another darn prequel meme. 

Jay has been sending prequel memes non-stop ever since they decided to exchange numbers.

Cole: stop it  
Nerd: no  
Cole: im trying to sleep  
Nerd: then turn off ur notifs  
Cole: no, im not letting you win  
Nerd: then suffer!! >:) 

Cole dropped his phone on his bedside table as it continued to ping. Cole’s phone hasn’t pinged like this in forever, it was weird to the young man to have someone outside his small bubble constantly try to connect with him. And as his phone continued to ping he rolled over and feel alseep.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Earlier in the day, Kai arrived home after the class. Nya was on the sofa messing with what looked like code on her laptop as their aunt was watching some soap opera on the TV.

“I’m back.” Kai unloaded his pockets onto the little bins they kept by the door, Nya gave a brief glance before continuing to mess with her computer. His Aunt May turned from the TV, giving a tired yet warm smile, “How was your day?”

“Fine, a bit chaotic though. What did y’all have for dinner?” Kai asked as he rooted through the kitchen looking for the usual mess that always lingered whenever either of the women cooked in the kitchen, no matter how hard they tried to clean, they always forgot something.

To his surprise the kitchen was spotless. “We got take-out, don't worry we got you some pad thai.” May explained as she continued to watch the soap opera.

Kai grabbed the container and plopped on the couch next to Nya. “So has Isabelle left Ricardo, or is she still cheating with the mailman?” Kai asked attention on the tv.

“So far she hasn’t told either of them about the other, she has them wrapped around her finger. She’s using Ricardo’s connection to the mob to build her reputation and to also sell the valuables she convinces John (the mailman) to steal for her from the dead letter office.” Aunt May filled in.

Kai shoved more food into his mouth as he followed along, “That conniving little b-” Kai saw the look on his Aunt’s face decided today was not the day to die, “-roccoli… Any ways how does the mailman not even know about Ricardo? They live in the same apartment!”

“You two are ridiculous.” Nya cut in as she continued to type ferociously on her laptop, “Can the two of you watch anything that isn’t so ridiculous or nonsensical.” Nya huffed.

Kai propped his feet on the coffee table, “Says the girl who watches Assassination Classroom. That’s as equally nonsensical as this.” Kai countered as he watched Nya stutter as she tried to think of a comeback.

“Well that’s culturally different, and it has a proper plot!”

“Excuse me? Faithless Times in Inglewood, has a plot. And just because it's culturaly different doesn't mean it's not ridiculous.” Kai defended, crossing his arms.

“Well you watch it too!” Nya defended weakly.

“I never said it was bad, just saying that we all enjoy our weird-”

“Can the two of you stop, I have to deal with enough bickering at the office.” Their Aunt interrupted as the episode of the soap opera ended, "I have a long day tomorrow I'm going to turn in early. Goodnight you two." She said as she turned off the TV and went to bed.

The two said their good nights to their aunt and waited for their her to disappear into her room. Once they heard her door click, Kai grabbed the remote and turned the TV back on, continuing to eat. Nya still didn’t look up from her laptop. And Kai shuffled over to look at her screen.

“Whatch’ya doing?”

“Writing a program.”

“For what?”

“A program.”

Kai huffed as he leaned on Nya, “Would it kill you to give me any info?”

Nya saved her progress and closed her laptop,“I’m writing a program for the club. We’re having a showcase at the end of the month, I have to make sure it’s perfect!” Nya said as she pushed Kai off of her. “How was the cooking class.”

“Oh fine.” Kai continued nonchalantly, and turned his focus back to the TV as Isabella started sobbing to the mailman. “Nothing interesting happened, except your boyfriend tried to burn down the school today.”

“Yeah he told me. He also said that you and Zane made him and his partner clean the classroom.” Nya chuckled, “bet you enjoyed that, so besides that disaster, have your opinions of him changed?”

“Nope.” Kai said refusing to look at Nya, focusing on the TV.

“Are you at least giving him a chance?” Nya leaned forward trying to stare Kai in the eyes. But he kept them plastered to the TV. He stayed quiet ignoring her question, or at least in his mind answering it. 

“Kai...Kai! Can you at least give him a chance? Come on, at least give me an answer.”Nya signed as Kai continued to be silent. Nya stood up and grabbed her things, “Fine, if you don’t want to talk then,” and with that she stalked off to her room. "Wait." Kai signed and followed Nya into the hallway. "Wait." Nya turned around, and stood there waiting for him to continue. "I don't know what to tell you, my opinion still stands. You could do so much better." Nya rubbed her temple, "And my argument hasn't changed, he's kind, he's considerate, and he makes me happy." Kai clenched his fists as he counters, "So have the other guys you dated." 

"Exactly, and I don't see why Jay is so different. If anything he's better than most of the guys I've dated. And it makes me so mad that you are so against him, I care for him so much and it hurts me that I feel like I have to fight to be with him!" And with that Nya walked into her room ending the conversation, not wanting to have the argument again like always.

Kai stood there for a second until he heard the click of Nya turning of her light. He shuffled back into the living room and dropped onto the couch, looking at the TV but not watching it. His mind running slow like molasses, as he thinks again and again if he should change, if he should relax, if he should just trust her. But it always circled back to that little voice, the little voice that kept him safe, kept her safe, but it wasn't keeping them together.

////////////--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------////////////


	7. Chapter 7

Stephanie, as always, dropped him off, but this time she forgot to mention till they got there that she couldn’t pick him up. 

“It’s fine, I’ll just get an uber.” Cole said getting out.

“Wait,” Stephanie put a hand on his arm, “just do me a favor, and just ask someone for a ride first.”

“But calling an uber would be easier.”

“This is not about easy, you said some of the guys here have been really nice. I think you could make some great friends, you just need to offer an olive branch.”

Cole raised his eyebrow, “So I’m supposed to offer an olive branch by asking them to give me a ride? Sounds more like asking for a favor than offering them something.”

Stephanie signed, “Ok, fair observation…. How about you offer them something for the ride?”

“Like what, money? At that point I’d be better off just getting an uber.”

“Um… How about you offer them lunch at the restaurant?”

Cole perked up at Stephanie’s offer, “Are you giving me an excuse to visit the restaurant?”

“To visit only.” Stephanie tersely added, “as a customer. And then you would leave. Understand?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll ask, but if they say no, I’m getting an uber.” Cole said as he closed the door, Stephanie rolled the window to reply, “Fair enough. Have a good day!”

Cole went into the building following the signs to the class, no one was there besides Zane and Jay. they seemed to be discussing something. Zane was pinching the bridge of his nose while Jay looked like he was adamantly defending something. He gave a fake cough to alert the two that others were there. The two immediately looked at him, Jay broke into a huge nervous smile as Zane looked visibly nervous, as if Cole caught them doing something besides talking.

Cole walked in, approaching the two, “Were you two gossiping? Don’t worry I’m not a prude, who are we talking about?” He leaned onto the table next to the two, and the two visibly relaxed, realizing that Cole didn’t overhear their conversation.

“Oh, no one…. We were… We were just talking about how our robot design could be better.” Jay piped in getting on a role. “We were discussing where we should put the battery pack, I think we should put it in the front, for easier access, but Zane here, thinks we should incorporate it inside our robot, for better balance and the aesthetics.”

“Our presentation is important, and if we put it in the front it’s more likely to topple if we stop the robot if it’s going too quickly.” Zane countered getting back into the stride of conversation.

Quickly getting lost in the nerd talk, Cole decided to go set up at his table. By the time he got the equipment more people were streaming into the class. Cole was approaching the guys again as he set down the equipment on the table. “So uh. Can I ask you a favor, Zane?”

“I can’t see why not.” Zane said with an easy smile

“Could I get a ride?”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that’s how Cole ended up following the two to their robotics club. Apparently Zane didn’t have a car and Jay was his usual ride. Jay was stoked to drive the three of them, especially when Cole offered lunch as payment. But apparently the two had club right after the class today, so to get his ride Cole had to go to the club as well.

“Are you sure this is ok? I’m not a student.” Cole asked, worried about seeming weird.

“It’s fine, you’re with us, we bring weirdos by the club all the time.” Jay said over his shoulder as the group arrived at the club. He quickly pulled open the door and zoomed inside. Zane followed close behind with Cole.

The room was very organized, there were thick binders on the shelves, and bins filled with parts, wheels, supports, rubber treads, etc and legos? “You guys play with legos in this club?” Cole asked as he pointed at the tub.

“Legos can be very useful,” said a voice to the side, a man in a wheelchair wearing a turtleneck and glasses rolled over to where Zane and Cole were standing. “We use them to plot out the functions and basic designs of a robot. Trust me, it’s a lot cheaper to figure out an idea that needs overworking with legos, than overhauling a week's worth of work.” He stopped in front of Cole, “I’m Mr. Borg, the robotics club advisor, and who may you be?” Mr. Borg asked, extending his hand.

Cole accepted the handshake, “I’m Cole, Cole Brookstone.” Cole stated feeling weirdly formal with the well dressed man talking to him.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nya walked into the club a tad bit late, busy trying to see if she would have a ride. But no, Kai had a basketball game and Aunt May had to work overtime. Then she had to argue with Kai about letting Jay drive her home, with him finally relenting when he realized her only other option was getting an uber, which apparently was only a few notches below Jay giving her a ride. But he made her promise that Zane would be with her as well.

Nya walked into the class and spotted Jay in his usual spot on the table with the lego bin out and the blocks scattered everywhere, putting together what seemed to be a plane. Zane was missing from his usual spot next to the kid, trying to get a usable design out of him. Nya spotted him next to Borg and some kind of giant. Zane was one of the tallest guys she knew, but this guy was at least three to four inches taller easy.

Nya went over to Jay and sat down next to him, and started unpacking her laptop. “Who's the giant?”

Jay looked up from his plane and gave a mischievous smile, “That’s Cole, a student in Dareth’s cooking class, and Zane’s newest crush.”

Nya gave him a deadpan stare, “You say he has a crush on every boy Zane meets.”

“I know, I know. But I know I’m right about this one!” 

“How do you know Zane likes him?” Nya asked as she booted up her laptop.

“Well, he went on a complete tangent about cooking, he keeps on showing up at our table, and I think he waited outside to meet up with him yesterday.” 

“That seems kind of weak to me. Zane’s a friendly guy, have you asked him about it?”

“Yeah, before the cooking class. I asked him, and he said he didn’t. But he was totally nervous especially when Cole walked in the classroom.” Jay countered

“He could’ve just been nervous 'cause the guy walked in and he didn’t want to give him the wrong idea. Y’know just because you got a girlfriend, doesn’t mean you are now an expert on love.”

“Excuse me, but i must be an expert in some regards to be able to get such a cool and awesome girl to go on a date with me.” Jay winked at Nya.

“Jay you’re sickeningly sweet with your compliment.” Nya smiled as she continued, “but that doesn’t mean you can assume and push someone into feeling something for someone else.”

Jay sighed and put his chin in his hands, “I know. It’s just...It’s just that I’ve never seen him so relaxed with someone so quickly, just look at him!” Jay pointed at Zane and Cole talking to one another in a relaxed conversation. “Doesn't he look like he’s known the guy for a few weeks, he met him three days ago! It must mean something!”  
“Ok, you’re at least right about that.” Nya observed, “but let's not pressure him. He could just want to be a friend.” 

Jay and Nya stared at each other for a while, “Fine,” Jay relinquished, “I’ll lay off of him. But I’m looking into Cole, the last thing we need is another Greg.” Jay pouted as he crossed his arms, frowning at the name.

“Agreed.” Nya said, giving Jay’s hand a squeeze. “By the way, I have no way home, do you have room for one more?”

Jay brightened, “You kidding me, I always have room in Wisp!”

Nya chucked, “That’s good, but Kai has a condition,” Jay tensed up waiting for some impossible requirement, “Zane has to be in the car when you drop me off.” Nya finished.

Jay sighed in relief, “That’s it!? That’ll be easy, I’m even taking Cole home today.”

Nya looked up from her laptop. “Can he not drive? You said he graduated?”

Jay jumped into the run down Cole gave him, “Apparently his step-mom is worried he’ll bail on the cooking class so she’s been dropping him off and picking him up so he wouldn’t. He can drive, he just doesn’t have a vehicle." Jay suddenly looked concerned, "Are you comfortable with him in the car? I’ll make sure you sit next to me.” Jay asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Nya said as she pulled up her program and their list for the robot on her computer.

“Awesome! You know why,” Nya shrugged so he continued, “he offered to get us lunch if we drive him! Ain’t that awesome!”

Nya smiled at Jay, chuckling at how he celebrated at the simple invitation of free food. Finally Zane and Cole walked over to the two at the table. 

“Nya, this is Cole. Cole, this is Nya.” Zane introduced the two. Cole looked at ease as he waved at the two.

“Hey Nya, you must be the girl Jay won’t stop talking about. What are you working on?” Cole asked as he sat down across from the couple.

Nya shuffled her laptop as she brought up pictures, notes, and lines of code. “We are making a robot for our showcase at the end of the month, we are working on completing the chassis and I’m still working on a problematic part of our program.” Nya pointed to the robot that Zane was wheeling out, it was about the size of a VHS but not as compact as one. It had supports, wires, bars, and Cole really couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Zane saw Cole’s confusion and added in,“It’s not done yet, we have some model examples of what we’re aiming for as a finished project.” Nya nodded in agreement and pulled up what looked to be a lego model of the robot. It looked to be tank-like, with the rectangle silhouette, big treads, and a robotic arm in the front.

“So what is it supposed to do?” 

Jay jumped up, “This baby is gonna win the showcase! This year it's a race, whoever’s robot can complete the obstacle course the fastest wins!”

“What do you win?” Cole questioned looking at the model on Nya’s computer. “This thing doesn’t look fast.”

Nya folded her arms and smirked, “Well, the obstacle course is more than weaving through obstacles, one must also be able to perform with finesse, see the arm.” Nya pointed at the arm on the model. “There are a few objects that must be moved from point to point and stacked. This is where most robots gain time, and where we must shave down our time. To get a precise robotic arm, we have to build a bit of a bigger and bulkier robot, which will move slightly slower, but it will also be easier for precisely moving our required objects.” Nya continued on, explaining how the parts and programmed worked on making the best robot.

At least that is what Cole understood, but he wasn’t an engineer so most of it went over his head. He turned to Zane who was tweaking some robotics parts on the robot with Jay. “So Nya’s the programmer I’m guessing. So are you two the engineers of the team?”

Zane picked his head up from the robot, “Well actually, I usually write the code for the robots and Nya and Jay put it together. But Nya was learning how to code and wanted to write the program, so I’m helping her write the code and Nya and Jay are helping me learn how to build the robot.”

“And I’m the driver!” Jay jumped in as he fiddled with some wiring. He continued to focus on his work as he went through his portfolio of driving robots, from simple radio cars, to every time they completed and showcased a robot.

And that’s how the four continued until the club ended. Cole asked the occasional question and tried to follow as one or all of the three answered with almost excruciating detail.   
But eventually they ran out of time, nearly getting kicked out by Borg due to how long they stayed. “I’ve got to go home too.” Borg stated as he got the group from his room, and locked the door behind them.

“Have a good weekend Mr. Borg!” Jay called to the teacher as he rolled down the hallway, he gave the four a wave and left the school.   
Jay took the lead as he walked to the parking lot, arriving next to an old van, like a soccer mom’s van, but it was spray painted electric blue. Jay pounded on the van, “Cole, say hello to Wisp, my ride!”

Cole blinked in surprise, as he and the rest got in. Cole and Zane sat in the back while Jay and Nya took the front. It was a perfect image of controlled chaos. There wasn’t trash on the floor, but there were magazines, textbooks, and notebooks stuffed in every corner, pocket and crevasse, except the floor. Cole had plenty of foot room, but anything above was cramped, and it seemed to be focused more on Cole’s side than Zane’s.

“Sorry ‘bout that. That’s my chaos corner, I’ve only driven a max of three people so that corner kind of accumulated my things.” Jay said looking at Cole through the rear view mirror.

Cole waved his hand, ‘It’s all fine, as long as I have a seat-belt I don't mind. Thanks again for the ride.”

“Thanks for the free lunch! Hey, can Nya come too?” Jay asked as he pulled out of the parking lot, his eyes glued to the road.

“Sure, why not?” Cole answered, “When do you guys wanna meet up? I’m completely free this weekend.”

Zane jumped in, “I’m free this Sunday.”

“So am I.” Jay chirped

“I can do Sunday, what place are we going to.” Nya added.

Cole pulled out his phone to put in the date, “We’re going to my family's place, Carità del Destino, it’s an Italian restaurant. Do you like Italian?” Cole asked the car.

Everyone gave murmurs of liking Italian, as Cole put down a time everyone also agreed on in his phone. The car went quiet after that, until Nya broke the silence.

“So Cole. Jay told me you graduated last year, where did you graduate from?” Nya turned in her seat to look at Cole.

“Oh, um… I graduated from Clearwater. Nothing special…” Cole said, rubbing his neck.

“You graduated from Dirtwater? Ouch!” Jay whined as Nya jabbed him in the ribs, “Hey don’t attack the driver!”

“Well don’t insult his school!” Nya countered giving Jay a glare.

“Guys, it’s fine. I know what the other schools called us.” Cole gave a mischievous smirk as he continued, “Besides the Eggview Dumpsters were never that creative with their insults.”

Zane started laughing as Jay exploded and started ranting nonsense, about how Clearwater were the uncreative ones, and that a simple prank didn’t hold back Eastview. And he continued on until he burnt out as Nya, Zane, and Cole continued to lose it over Jay’s reaction.

By the time everyone stopped laughing, Jay had pulled up to Cole's family's apartment. “See you guys Sunday?” Cole confirmed as he got out of the van.

Jay said nothing, but Zane and Nya confirmed they’d be there. Cole waved at the three as they drove off. Cole could still see Jay fuming over his insulted school’s pride. Cole chucked at the sight as he walked into the apartment building.

////////////--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------////////////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I skipped the cooking class today, hope ya'll don't mind. I'm worried about getting repetitive, and I also didn't want to write it since I didn't think wouldn't be as interesting. Hope ya'll don't mind... 
> 
> Comment and kudos if you enjoy and remember to breath my dudes! :)


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